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Thursday, 25 February 2016

Obama: I’m going to Cuba

PRESIDENT OBAMA is planning a trip to #Cuba in March, the first visit by a sitting US president in 80 years.The US deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said #Obama was travelling to Cuba to press for more reforms, noting that while advances have been made, ‘still, this progress is insufficient’.

‘We want to open up more opportunities for US businesses and travellers to engage with Cuba, and we want the Cuban government to open up more opportunities for its people to benefit from that engagement,’ said Mr Rhodes.

The move follows the president's pledge with Raul Castro to re-open diplomatic channels following a prisoner exchange and the release of a US citizen in December 2014. Since the announcement, the two countries have had a series of diplomatic talks, leading to the re-opening of embassies last summer and a recent deal restoring commercial air traffic.

The last and only incumbent US president to visit the island – only 90 miles south of the Florida Keys – was Calvin Coolidge in 1928. President Jimmy Carter travelled to Cuba in 2002, 20 years after leaving office, at the invitation of President Fidel Castro.